Connection Between Passionate Hobbies and Leadership: Veteran C-Suite Executive and Leadership Scholar Emilia Bunea Delivers Powerful Perspective at TEDxLondonBusinessSchool

AMSTERDAM, June 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In May 2019, Emilia Bunea, a former CEO and CFO and now a leadership scholar, took the TEDx London Business School stage to present "Why Leaders Should Take Their Leisure Seriously" to an enthusiastic audience response. Bunea, a marathon runner herself, illustrated her talk with examples of top CEOs who are also triathletes, musicians, martial artists and photographers among others, to reveal how and when individuals' passionate hobbies (also known as "serious leisure") can positively impact their leadership.

Having spent nearly two decades in the C-suite as CEO and CFO in the financial services industry, Bunea is uniquely positioned as a leadership scholar to bridge academic and practitioner perspectives when conducting her research.

Before Bunea presented her research at TEDx, her academic work detailing the relationship between passionate hobbies and leadership was featured in a Harvard Business Review online article and nominated for an Academy of Management award. Using an applied psychology theoretical basis, her research is based on a review of thousands of press articles and public videos as well as on her personal interviews with over 20 CEOs of major US companies.

The primary findings of Bunea's research:

• When it comes to leadership development, not all leisure is equal. "Serious leisure", the passionate, goal-oriented pursuit of a non-work activity, holds most promise for leaders.

• Serious leisure develops a plethora of skills and life views that strengthen a person's leadership, while feeding his/her energy and combating stress.

• Most importantly, serious leisure increases "self-complexity," an essential requirement for leaders in today's increasingly complicated world.

"Serious leisure can propel your leadership to a different level. Having a passionate hobby alongside a busy work life is not only possible, but essential, to survive and thrive as a leader," said Bunea. "However, it is not reserved solely for people in management positions: everybody can benefit from it, whether it is for leadership directed towards others, or for self-leadership."

TEDxLondonBusinessSchool, where Bunea presented her findings, is one of the premier innovation and thought-leadership events in London. Every year, the London Business School welcomes world leaders in business, technology, science and the arts to share their Ideas Worth Spreading.

Emilia Bunea has spent nearly two decades in the C-suite, as CFO and later CEO in the financial services industry. She was CEO of Metlife Romania (an operation with 2 million customers) from 2014 to 2017, CFO of ING Insurance Europe (overseeing a $20bn balance sheet) from 2010 to 2014 and held other CEO and CFO positions prior to that. She holds an executive MBA from the University of Washington, Seattle, is an alumna of the London Business School's Senior Executive Program and a CFA charterholder. She is currently on the supervisory boards of an asset management company and of a retail company. For her PhD dissertation at VU University in Amsterdam she focuses on the subject of leaders' passionate hobbies (formally known as "serious leisure") and has interviewed numerous CEOs of major corporations.

To watch Bunea's TEDx presentation of "Why leaders should take their leisure seriously," visit HERE.

For more information about Bunea's research and inviting her as an inspirational speaker, visit HERE.

Contact:
Emilia Bunea
+31 647131051

SOURCE Emilia Bunea